Will AI soon be making all hiring decisions?
We get a look from Business Advisor Carl Gould. Listen here:
We get a look from Business Advisor Carl Gould. Listen here:
I’m one of the best salespeople I know. I’m a trained public speaker who has sold hundreds of millions in products and merchandise. But I always rely on scripts when selling. So, I have to roll my eyes when someone tells me, “I don’t need a script,” or “I want to do my own thing,” or “I’ll know how to respond in the moment.” No matter how good you think you are, you need a sales script to be better.
I get it. Sales teams hate scripts. They think they’ll sound false, like a robot, or like a person reciting from memory. But what actually happens is memorization increases confidence, allows salespeople to address objections effectively, and actually helps them be more creative in the moment. After all, when you memorize the script, you can answer questions, even get off track, and still return to the script without missing a beat or forgetting to mention critical points.
Watch What the Pros Do
I have worked with several standup comedians in my speaking career. The good ones make it look easy and natural when they’re on stage. But the truth is that they have rehearsed that material over and over and over again. They know the exact moment to walk to stage left. They plan out when to make fun of a certain kind of person – a man, a woman, a couple – because they’re working on getting a particular response to walk stage right and make another point. Since they are so well-rehearsed, they know when to go with the moment and veer off-script because they have the material down pat. They won’t get lost. They can return to the routine anytime and not miss a beat.
That’s what pros do. They memorize and prepare to handle objections (or questions or heckling) without getting off track.
Scripts Protect the Salesforce
A well-rehearsed script ensures consistency and increases confidence. But the process also protects your staff…from themselves. There will be pushback, but a solid sales script sets the offer up properly and responds to objections, which helps your team succeed.
Scripted responses to objections are critical because your teams will want to give in to the prospect. Some salespeople are heart-led servants who just want to help. These good-natured souls are buying into the stories of the prospect: “I don’t have the money,” or “I don’t have the time,” or “I can’t understand what you’re telling me.” They want to serve the client, so they’ll cut the price. Or they’ll promise a little bit more for the same cost. But once your sales team starts cutting deals, they’ll realize, “Wait a minute, if I make these shortcuts up front, I get this done a little bit easier and efficiently.” And that’s a problem for your margins and your delivery systems.
The second reason is that your team members don’t buy into your process or offer. And because they don’t buy into it, they’ll agree with a client’s objections. “Oh, yeah, I know. This is expensive. I thought the same thing. So, I’ll tell you what. I got a little authorization for a discount.” These salespeople are afraid of the no. They haven’t internalized your value. They don’t have well-researched responses to objections. So, they fold.
The Power of Practice
Earlier in my career, I worked with a sales organization that required everyone to memorize scripts, word for word, with no exceptions. They used language I would never use, and I was absolutely convinced that if I stuck to their script, I would fail.
However, the sales trainer reassured me that this script was well-researched and compelling. They told me to use it on sixty appointments. And if I still had concerns, they would revisit the script with me.
So, I swallowed my pride and memorized the script until I knew it was cold. Memorization was a critical part of my success. I’ve since learned that the act of memorizing has a whole set of benefits. When you memorize, the information is stored in a different part of your brain, forcing you to master the content rather than just familiarize yourself with it. When you memorize something, it is committed to your long-term memory instead of your working memory. This means that you can execute the script while also connecting with your prospect and making all those little split-second decisions that determine whether the sales call goes well or disastrously. In other words, you can think two ways at once.
And what about my sixty sales calls? The script worked great. I closed tons of sales. And I gave up on my initial reservations about my wording or script. I realized that I had been given access to a proven script. It was a gift that made me more successful, and I used it verbatim.
Monitoring Use of Scripts
At 7 Stage Advisors, our well-researched and refined script delivers a very high close rate. Every salesperson is asked to use it, word for word. It has a proven conversion percentage. When a salesperson has lower-than-average conversion rates, I call them in to discuss their performance. During that talk, we explore how they are using the script. More often than not, underperformers are not using it, have not memorized it, or are trying their own sales strategies.
When researching and refining your script, study the associated close rates. Once you have a solid average, it will be easy to see when a salesperson is not meeting expectations, and the next step is to investigate their familiarity with the script.
Want to Learn More About Consistently Higher Sales Conversions?
At 7 Stage Advisors, we help companies grow predictably, and one way we do that is to systemize the sales process. If you want to learn more about sales scripts, shoot me an email, and let’s start talking.
A company’s strategic plan is the foundation of predictable growth. After all, a solid strategic plan affects everything your firm does or doesn’t do. And these actions (or lack of actions) send a clear message to your current and future customers. It is a guide that helps you control the message and consistently communicate value.
Without a plan, the messages get confused, offers may compete, and customers struggle to understand your value proposition.
I like to use restaurants as an example. As a customer, even if you don’t know anything about the place, the building sends a message. Is it a roadside diner structure or on the other side of elegant glass windows on a busy city street? Is the restaurant’s name spelled out in gilded script, or is it in blinking neon? Once you walk in, does a maître d greet you in a well-cut suit, or is a preoccupied teenager leading you to a booth?
Each of these cues tells the customer what to expect before seeing a menu or ordering an item. These are cues to cost, quality, value, and even taste. So, it makes sense to plan these things out in advance.
Of course, these kinds of cues matter for every type of business. Each decision you make for your company will tell your potential customers about you and your organization, even before they are interested in a product or service you plan to sell.
Map Your Company’s Journey
Strategic planning is a road map. It allows you to identify goals, create strategies, and position your firm to grow. A good plan identifies your starting point and outlines the rules for engagement, the players, and your place on the map in relation to your competition. Once you know who you are, what you offer, and what others provide, you can position your firm to excel. And that is the start of a successful company.
Planning Saves Time and Reduces Waste
Developing a clear path for the company also enables you to get up to speed quickly and confidently without wasting time on missteps or uncertainty. Instead of making decisions along the way, you have a destination in mind and make decisions that move you toward your goals.
Yes, you will have to walk away from opportunities that don’t fit your plan. But because you’ve researched and reasoned out your preferred path, you don’t have to spend too much time regretting this. You know where you’re headed, why you’re headed there, and why other paths just don’t make sense for you.
The Power of MVP
When discussing strategic plans, I refer to MVPs: mantra, velocity, principles, and a purpose statement. You start by defining who you are (mantra), where you want to go and how fast you want to get there (velocity), your company principles and what you personally believe in (principles), and why you are in business at all (your purpose statement.) The MVP is your strategic planning foundation. As you develop other parts of the plan, you refer back to your MVPs and course correct as needed.
This is also the time to create a business plan. You’ll think through how the business works and what it needs to function correctly. You’ll reason out pricing, costs, margins, and profits. You’ll identify competition and market opportunities to find the best position for your product or service.
Next, you’ll map out your plans to communicate your value to others (marketing.) Who needs to know about you? Who is going to tell them? What messages will you send to them, and how will you deliver those messages?
Next, plan out your sales plan. You’ll need revenue quickly, so spend time thinking about how you will jumpstart sales to keep the cash coming in the early stages of growth.
And as you compile these plans, you’ll also create a timeline filled with tasks that must be completed to move forward. You’ll develop a list of milestones that you must meet along the way.
Don’t Skip This Step
Strategic planning is difficult for many entrepreneurs. Many business owners just want to get out there and start doing and earning. Sitting around with papers and calculators may sound like torture to some of you, but it is critical to keep your firm on track.
Think of your business as a journey. If you can pick a destination, a budget, and a route, you will arrive at your destination quicker and more efficiently. If you set out without a plan, you’ll inevitably wander, take a few wrong turns, and waste time and money in the process. Worst of all, you’ll never be sure if you have arrived.
So, take a breath and commit to planning. When you go slow at first, your company can go much faster down the line.
When people talk about success, they often use words like luck, fortune, or chance. Most large firms can look back and spot a few key events that helped propel the company upwards quickly. That might seem like luck to outsiders, but encountering those kinds of opportunities is not rare or even unusual. In fact, many companies come face to face with such game-changing events on a regular basis. However, most are not set up to take advantage of them. In other words, luck is useless if you don’t know what to do with it.
In this sense, there is no such thing as luck in business. There are simply things that happen, and if you’re ready to leverage opportunities, your company can be “lucky” again and again. That’s why successful and growing firms are structured in ways that empower them to expand quickly when needed, so it can grow fast while also maintaining margins.
Unless your firm is built on this kind of solid foundation, with reliable systems in place, it’s unlikely that your company will be able to take advantage of unexpected opportunities when they come along. These entrepreneurs understand how to leverage the power of the 7 stages of business success.
A Proven Process
The 7 Stages approach is an achievement-focused methodology that helps businesses understand what they need to do to grow and prosper reliably and predictably. I’ve worked with over 7,000 companies in 68 countries, and time and time again, I’ve seen how the 7 Stages of business growth works in all kinds of situations.
If an entrepreneur is unfamiliar with these stages, they won’t know how to grow, what they need to do to scale, or how to keep their growth trajectory moving upwards. And that usually means they get stuck. They stop growing, and they don’t know why.
By following the lessons offered in each stage, companies can grow from a small enterprise into a major company with dependable revenue in just a few years.
Stage 1: Strategic Planning Stage
Success starts with a plan. That’s why you need to create a company roadmap with goals and strategies. Whether you started a business this week or ten years ago, a strategic plan will help you grow in a predictably progressive fashion. With a plan in place, you’ll have context for decisions, reasons to move forward, and rationales for rejecting ideas. A strategic plan also makes it much easier to keep your team focused (even if you don’t have a team yet.)
Stage 2: The Specialty Stage
Once you know what you want to do, it’s time to become the best at it. In Stage 2, you develop expertise that puts you ahead of the competition. You do what you need to do to be the best and become known as an expert. This builds your reputation, cements your credibility, and positions you for premium pricing.
Stage 3: The Synergy Stage
Business owners hate to cede control, but in Stage 3, it’s a necessity. Running a growing business is a team sport. In Stage 3, you’ll need to develop strong leaders to handle different parts of the company. This is the time to stop doing everything and let others lead certain parts of the firm.
Stage 4: The Systems Stage
Without processes, you can’t gain momentum. As your organization expands, creating systems for everything from ordering office supplies to onboarding new employees to converting new clients becomes increasingly important. When your company develops repeatable processes, checklists, and evaluations, success becomes predictable.
Stage 5: The Sustainability Stage
With systems in place, it’s time to think about fortifying your brand, your point of difference, and what makes your business unique. Once that’s well-defined, you can scale quickly without losing momentum. Maybe you want more locations. Perhaps you want to franchise. Once you’re clear about what makes your business model sustainable in a variety of situations, you can scale your product, operations, markets, and expertise in ways that allow you to increase profits exponentially.
Stage 6: The Salability Stage
Many entrepreneurs love creating successful businesses but don’t want to run them forever. Others create companies with the intent to sell. But both types must pay attention to what makes your business salable. You must have top management in place. Your brand and operations should be appealing and contribute to your company’s value. Your books have to be immaculate. By looking at your business from a buyer’s point of view, you add value and increase stability, even if you’re never going to sell.
Stage 7: The Succession Stage
Some business owners don’t want to sell. They want to pass the business on. Whether you plan to step aside, step down, or step away from a company, you need a succession plan. At this stage, it’s the business owner’s job to ensure that the firm continues to succeed even after you’re gone. In Stage 7, you will make adjustments that ensure the firm runs profitably after a handover.
Getting Started
Every business owner is different, and every company is unique, so there’s not a one-size-fits-all roadmap for success. But if you internalize the 7 Stages of Business Success, and you follow the system in ways that build on your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses, you might just become one of the thousands of people who own a multi-million dollar business. 7 Stage Advisors can help. Contact me to find out more.
Many companies are started by one person. It’s cost-effective, and it minimizes risk. But once you’ve successfully created a one-person business, growing can feel intimidating or even impossible. However almost every enterprise, at some point, was started by just one or two people who had to do the same thing. The fact is that successful firms grow from one person to one hundred employees or more all the time.
You Don’t Have to Be Passionate about Your Business
This point of view is a little controversial, but hear me out. After working with thousands of business owners, I know for a fact that you that you do not need to be super passionate about your work or even your industry. But it is necessary to do at least one of the following:
(1) Love what you do
(2) Love how you’re doing it
(3) Love why you’re doing it
My first company in my twenties was a commercial landscaping firm, and it was born out of the necessity to make money, not to pursue a dream job. I didn’t love what I did initially, but I did love how I was doing it. That’s why I looked for better ways to manage my company. I found a few “secret sauces” early on and discovered that I loved running a business.
Be Smart About Your First Hire
Hiring is a tough transition for many business owners. It represents a loss of control. But when you’re ready to start growing, start with a financial expert.
Why? In my experience, cash flow is a mess for most solopreneurs. They’re not sure of profit margins. They’re unsure how much to spend or where to spend it. They don’t know if they are priced right. That’s why the very first hire should be a good financial person. When you hire a financial expert, a bookkeeper, or a controller, you now have somebody on board scrutinizing your expenditures, the cash flow, the pricing, and the profits. They ensure you’re getting it right and help you analyze additional spending moving forward. A skilled financial employee is a building block of planned growth.
Forget About Growing and Focus on Scaling
While it may seem like I’m getting lost in semantics here, the difference between growing and scaling is fundamental. A firm’s growth may bring in more money, become busier, and get more clients. And all of that is good stuff. But it may also mean that this growth happens when the owner is closely tied to the business. When owners are busier, they make more money, which feels like growing, but it’s actually just working more.
When you scale your business, you create systems that remove the owner from day-to-day operations so that others can take over parts of the company. You don’t have to worry about getting too many clients to service or too many employees to manage. A marketing manager takes care of sales and marketing. A CFO will take care of billing and financials. An HR manager keeps the company fully staffed.
I often cite the example of the owner of one shop vs. the owner of a hundred shops. Which owner works harder? With sound systems in place, the owner of a hundred locations is more likely to be able to walk away from the business for a day, a week, or a month, and the company hums along without them.
Leverage The Seven Stages of Business Success
I have researched which steps entrepreneurs take to become larger and more profitable and map it all out in my book, The 7 Stages of Business Success. This process is used by my consulting firm, 7 Stages Advisors.
As a solopreneur, you can complete Stage 1 and Stage 2 on your own, but scaling and hiring are required to reach Stage 3 and beyond.
Stage 1 is strategic planning when you take compelling and inspiring ideas and put them on paper.
In Stage 2, as an owner, you must become an expert in your niche. That expertise is an integral part of price flexibility. You need fat margins early to carry you through later stages when you sell more, but margins can shrink.
Stage 3 is the synergy stage. The business is expanding, and it’s time to surround yourself with people that help get the job done. This is the time to create a top-notch implementation team.
In Stage 4, you make a giant leap into the stage of the system. You decide what kind of business you’re going to be. Will you be a closed ecosystem like Apple? Want to franchise someday? Should you be multi-location? Where do online sales fit in (if at all)? You decide on your ecosystem and systematize accordingly.
Stage 5 is all about scaling. Systems become the star. How you do it makes you different, making it easier to scale.
Once you’ve got systems and scaling covered, it may be time to consider Stage 6, the salability stage. This is when the company is an asset that can be bought or sold. This is the time to polish the books, clean up any debts, and make it an attractive asset to sell or take public.
Stage 7 is the succession stage. A business becomes a legacy, and you can confidently exit. You are replaced with a CEO, and the value of your business increases because the market recognizes that the firm has a great leadership team in place.
Are You Ready to Scale?
7 Stage Advisors is the company I set up to offer coaching and mentoring to business owners. It’s a systematic approach to growing and scaling companies. This can help owners increase predictability, fortify margins, or create an exit plan. If you want to know more, email me at [email protected], and let’s start talking.
Some of the world’s most successful companies, like Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree, grew into industry leaders by adopting a few reliable growth strategies. And even small startups can emulate these highly effective strategies to develop their own companies. Here are ten ways to get started.
1. Adopt a Customer-Centric Approach
Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree all maintain a relentless focus on their customers. They spend a lot of time understanding their needs and delivering value-driven products and services to meet them. They work hard to keep customer satisfaction high.
One way to do this is to implement a Net Promoter Score or NPS. This customer satisfaction metric is established by answering a single survey question. Using a 1-10 ranker, ask your customers how likely they are to recommend your company, product, or service to a friend or colleague.
For example, customers who give you a 9-10 score are happy and likely to remain loyal. Scores of 7-8 demonstrate satisfaction but a lower probability of loyalty. Scores of 6 or lower point to issues that must be addressed immediately to protect future business.
2. Provide Visionary Leadership
Small businesses that want vision and passion to help them grow must invest in management and leadership training. After all, Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree were launched by strong leaders who provided the vision and passion needed to reach the top of their markets.
When small businesses provide leadership training to all employees, regardless of their title, they can create a culture of loyalty, initiative, and accountability. Instead of relying on the founder’s charisma, company-wide training fosters deep passion that drives success.
3. Continue to Innovate
Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree have robust innovation initiatives. They’ve created a culture that constantly bumps up against boundaries and embraces new technologies.
Companies of all sizes can embrace a culture of innovation without creating an expensive R&D division. Look around, and you’ll spot relevant innovation in almost any industry sector. Monitor other industries to see how they go to market, create revenue, solve problems, and serve their clients. By learning how other business owners identify new strategies, you can adapt their ideas to your industry to push you ahead of competitors.
4. Focus on Operational Efficiency
Operational efficiency is critical for firms of any size. Efficiency enables market leaders to offer high-quality products and services at lower prices while maintaining margins.
Small businesses need to take a big-business approach to efficiencies. Start by documenting your processes, identifying bottlenecks or unnecessary redundancies, and seeking to eliminate as many unneeded steps as possible.
I often recommend that business owners look for ways to say one percent in time or money across a range of tasks, because even a one percent increase in efficiency can be a game-changer.
5. Rethink Your Pricing Strategies
Pricing is a critical factor in business success, and Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree have all differentiated themselves by adopting unique pricing strategies that appeal to their customer base.
Small businesses need to adopt an open-minded approach to pricing. Think outside the box and explore tiered pricing, membership or subscription-based models, and suggestive selling based on previous purchases.
6. Revisit Supply Chain Management
The bigger the company, the more complicated the supply chain becomes. That’s why effective inventory, distribution, and logistics are a primary focus for Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree. All three companies have implemented best practices to optimize their supply chain operations.
Small businesses can benefit by investing in supply chain management technologies and processes. Consider how operations, procurement, inventory, and distribution work with demand planning. Incremental improvements can reap exponential rewards.
7. Make Data-Driven Decisions
Sophisticated data gathering and skilled analysts help Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree make informed decisions and improve operations.
Today, even one-person operations can afford cloud-based analytics tools to provide insight into customer behavior, operational performance, and financial analytics. It’s wise to invest time in securing the most advanced programs available to position your firm for faster growth.
8. Foster Employee Engagement
Amazon was named the most desirable workplace in the U.S. by LinkedIn in 2023. Costco motivates its workforce and fosters a sense of loyalty and commitment by prioritizing internal promotions and offering employees career advancement opportunities. Dollar Tree offers similar programs. All three companies have a strong employee engagement culture, fostering loyalty, productivity, and innovation.
Small businesses are well-positioned to create a positive workplace culture that encourages collaboration, innovation, and professional development. Focusing on employee engagement and satisfaction is one of the best ways to increase loyalty, improve performance, and reduce turnover.
9. Commit to Continuous Improvement
Even at the top, no one is resting on their laurels. Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree continuously seek ways to enhance their operations and customer experiences.
Small businesses must also adopt an “improve or perish” mentality. The world is changing faster than ever, so embracing a culture of continuous progress is mandatory. Regularly evaluate processes, products, and services to identify areas for optimization.
10. Adapt to Change
The business landscape constantly evolves, and adapting is critical for long-term success. Amazon, Costco, and Dollar Tree are committed to accommodating change and leading it by embracing new technologies, markets, business models, and opportunities.
Small business owners also need to embrace this kind of agility. Continually evaluating, adapting, and pivoting are vital parts of success in 2023, no matter how large or small your company is.
We’re Here to Help
7 Stage Advisors has helped thousands of small businesses grow and expand, but we’re not right for everyone. If you want to discuss your company’s goals and needs, contact us to see if we can help you take your organization to the next level.
A company’s assets can be sorted into two buckets: tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets are things the firm can buy or sell, such as inventory, real estate, equipment, machinery, offices, or company vehicles. Most business owners are pretty comfortable inventorying and appraising tangible assets.
But do you know how to measure the value of your intangible assets: your staff. Are you getting the most out of your employees? Are they as valuable as they should be? How do you know who to hire, which positions to create, and whether a job candidate is the best fit with your firm?
Start By Establishing Measurements for Positions, Not People
Instead of starting with employee traits for an evaluation, start by mapping out the parameters of that position. What should anyone in that job accomplish? Why does the role exist? What purpose does it serve? What personality traits should anyone in the post have? Establishing benchmarks for each job allows you to assign performance standards, desired personality attributes, and expected contributions.
Each Position is Assigned a Personality and a Prototype
Some business owners are uncomfortable assigning an ideal personality for a job. But when you take the current employee out of the equation, you can start thinking about traits that suit the position and match the business culture. For example, should a CMO be outgoing, creative, and enthusiastic in your firm? Does your organization need a meticulous, team-oriented, and predictable COO?
Once you put a personality in place for the position, you add a list of essential functions of the role to round out the prototype. For instance, in some companies, a CMO manages communications, creates sales materials, and handles PR. In another firm, the CMO may also oversee sales. Each company is different.
With position benchmarks in place, evaluating an employee’s or prospects’ suitability becomes much more manageable. If they match the job’s benchmarks well, it will be easier for them to meet your company’s expectations. Therefore, they will probably be more effective, experience success, and consequently show more loyalty. Matching people to benchmarks is a win-win.
The Role of Company Culture
The personalities and prototypes for a job can vary significantly among companies. Don’t assume that all positions look the same in all organizations. The change among industries is significant, so the needs of positions will vary quite a bit. Additionally, company culture plays an important role.
For example, suppose your company culture is innovative, creative, and brash. In that case, you may want an extroverted, big-idea CMO comfortable taking big swings and making a splash with the public.
Conversely, another company may be conservative and research-driven. They may need a CMO with focus and a professional, restrained manner.
Looking at these two examples, it becomes easy to see that companies A and B need two different types of CMOs. Can you imagine how unhappy the high-flying creative would be working for company B? And how frustrated company A would be if they hired a restrained introvert?
Benchmarking Needs Change Based on a Company’s Growth Cycle
In the startup phase, companies operate differently. They must be nimble, run lean, and change quickly to meet market needs. But established businesses should be focused on creating order, systems, and processes that allow them to scale up.
That’s why it’s wise to revisit benchmarked job descriptions as a firm grows. For instance, independent workaholics are invaluable initially but can get in the way once systems are in place. Process-driven staffs are excellent for a large organization but can be ineffective in the launch phase.
Benchmarking is the First Step to Increased Productivity
Benchmarking is not an exact science. Assumptions are made based on your circumstances. But it is an effective way to begin inventorying and leveraging your company’s intangible assets. Creating benchmarks for each position makes it much easier to identify and find people who can achieve their full potential within your organization. You start to hire better “fits” with your culture and requirements. You’ll also identify existing employees who may not fit into the company structure.
If you can find the right person to do the right job, you’ll be happier, they’ll be more productive, and your company will grow faster.
Selling Your Business? Avoid These Mistakes!
Selling a business is not as straightforward as selling a house. After all, a company is a complex organism, and only some (or maybe none) of the value lies in physical assets. I’ve built and sold multiple businesses in my 30+ year career. In those first sales, I learned from my mistakes. And after a few hard knocks and some intensive research, I now know there’s a better way. If you’re considering selling your business now or in ten years, this article can help you avoid common mistakes.
Mistake #1: Doing It Alone
Most of us don’t sell companies very often, so very few entrepreneurs are experts at selling firms. That’s why so many business owners bring in a few professionals. Start before the sale by hiring an experienced business valuation expert. They will assess the firm to determine the fair market value. This valuation gives the owner an idea of how much the enterprise is worth “as is” and should also provide pointers to improvements that will increase the size of future offers. Often, with a few small improvements, you can substantially increase your market value.
Your financials will be held to a very high standard during a sale, so even minor errors or omissions can cause big problems. A reputable accounting firm with experience in business mergers, sales, and acquisitions, can help your internal accounting team compile financial statements and documentation in sale-friendly formats. Accounting consultants will help the team create, modify, or clarify income statements and balance sheets, catch errors, and ensure financial records and documents are above reproach.
Corporate law attorneys specializing in sales and acquisitions can handle legal or regulatory situations that may affect a potential sale. In addition, those same lawyers should be on hand to review contracts and agreements, such as leases and vendor contracts, to ensure they are transferable to a new owner.
Mistake #2: Choosing the Wrong Type of Sale
Business sales can be structured in a variety of ways. Each type of sale has its own benefits and drawbacks. So, make sure you’re working with a business consultant and a corporate attorney who understand sales and acquisitions.
We’ve listed the most common sale structures here.
Private Equity Firm
These buyers usually have the financial resources and expertise to grow a business. However, a private equity firm may have a short-term investment horizon, which means they are focused on maximizing their return on investment rather than maintaining the long-term viability of a company.
ESOP
An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) enables employees to purchase shares in the company over time. Employee ownership rewards staff members and ensures that the firm is run by people who are invested in its success.
An employee ownership consultant may be required because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of the Department of Labor and the IRS’s Internal Revenue Code section 404(a)(3) govern ESOPs, so deviations from the prescribed process, intentional or accidental, break federal laws.
Succession
While it may seem simple to pass on the family business, it’s important to formalize the process to address legal considerations and prevent anyone from contesting ownership. The transfer should be formally documented and detail valuation, taxes, and ownership structure.
Individual Sale
If an individual wants to buy the business, the process should start with a letter of intent (LOI) outlining the proposed terms for sale. Owners should also qualify individual buyers before moving forward by conducting background checks.
Selling to a Competitor
Your business may have the most value to your competitors. These types of sales usually require the seller to agree to non-compete clauses, which may limit their ability to run businesses in the future.
Mistake #3: Not Hiring a Consultant
It’s easy to view consultant fees as an expense, but when it comes to selling a business, their role is to minimize risk and maximize the asking price. Good consultants are not cheap, but their recommendations can protect owners from legal and financial threats. A consultant’s recommended improvements to the business can add millions to the asking price. And accountants’ contribution to bookkeeping can prevent costly delays or dropouts. When you look at the bigger picture, you can’t afford to keep them out of the process.
Want to learn more about how to get your business ready for a profitable sale? Contact 7 Stage Advisors today and start talking about your business.
Have you thought about how the player protest in the NFL affects the team owner? Does the protesting really affect the game?
Starting and running a business requires many things and having certain skills is definitely one of the things that you should put your focus on in this 2017. Lack of skills is one of the main reasons why people are not making progress in their careers. Skill gaps often lead to lower customer satisfaction, delays in product presentation, and many other problems. The same goes for those running a business. The good news is that acquiring skills today is much simpler than 10 or 50 years ago. Namely, you can now learn a wide range of skills online. However, if you just plan on running the business, there might not be a need for you to have specific skills like these. For many business owners, they will look to hire people with these specific skills that will be needed for the job. When hiring people to your business, they will probably need a device to ensure they can complete work to a higher standard. As the manager of this business, it’s important for you to oversee all operations. With the help of https://www.fleetsmith.com/features/management, you can configure these devices exactly how you want them. This should increase business efficiency and productivity. However, if you are passionate about learning new skills as well, then you should do it. You can never have too many skills as a business entrepreneur. There is no doubt that this practice is convenient, flexible, provides comfort, and lets people get a new perspective on business. The following is a shortlist of 6 skills everyone can learn online for a productive and profitable 2017.
1. Statistical data analysis
This might sound like something very complicated, but once you start learning it online, you will see that you were wrong. Besides business owners, students can benefit from acquiring this skill too. There are many software solutions for this type of analysis and it is up to you to master these programs. In this way, you can make better market shares predictions, analyze profit tendencies, and do other things that will improve productivity.
2.Web design
Now here’s another skill that is great for business. As you are probably aware, almost every modern business is looking for a way to be presented online and websites are still the most wanted form of presentation on the World Wide Web. There are many websites that provide online courses and tutorials that can help you become a good web designer. (2)
3. Fashion design
This might not be the favorite choice for everyone, but the truth is that this skill can help you make this year more profitable and more productive. Clothes are one of the basic items in the lives of almost every individual. This means that people will always buy clothes. Use online videos found on video-sharing websites and websites where you can get step-by-step guides related to fashion design and how to draw the perfect piece of clothing.
4.Business research
Business research is a broad term which usually involves things like researching a few businesses in one industry or researching the structure of business for investments or presentation. If you conduct some research you will notice that there are many online articles and videos related to business research that can help you.
5.Make-up skill
Did you know that this is one of the fastest-growing businesses today? If you are prepared to start a new business, you might take this skill into account. Obviously, the best way to master this skill is to watch videos and to visit websites that have articles with many how-to images.
6.Run a blog
Finally, it’s a smart move to master the art of creating and running a blog. With the help of a blog, you can showcase your work and skills and establish yourself as an authority. Choose the form of your blog and the things you share on this blog wisely.
Follow these timeless tips for acquiring useful skills over the Internet for a successful 2017.
Marketing in 2017 brought many exciting new trends and we are constantly seeing a big demand for more personalized web content, many new strategies for reaching target audiences, and other innovative methods for advertising. The following are some of the most popular marketing trends for 2017.
Mobile domination is an increasing trend in the marketing campaigns, as more and more people are accessing the internet through their mobile devices. Because of that, the way in which digital marketing is now used is more focused on smartphone users, due to the popularity of this type of technology. Things like advertisements can appear from anywhere to your internet browser, to your social media content, and places like whitehat-seo.co.uk can help businesses to implement a Pay Per Click Management strategy into the running of their company. This can help you advertise to as wide an audience as possible. But there are so many other things that your mobile can help with. Vertical video content and mobile messenger marketing are a couple of things that are growing and if you want to have a good marketing campaign, then focusing on mobile users is a must.
Video content is a crucial part of marketing, and this trend is growing stronger month by month. Videos are receiving bigger engagement from people and companies can squeeze additional content through the videos presented to the audience. They allow marketers to communicate their message more efficiently through storytelling. Every social media application has a video stream option available, so expect to see lots of mobile-optimized video content being produced this year.
According to many studies, a big majority of people depend on recommendations from other people they know, so influencer marketing is another thing that in full swing. Advertising and marketing are relying a lot on industry influencers, so traditional channels for marketing are slowly going away.
Many people are interacting with different brands through many different channels like blogs, e-mails or social media. E-mail marketing is an extremely popular method for marketing this year. This method constantly gets improved and is no longer a simple copy sent to many users, but it is often customized based on location, online behavior, time of day, messages, and more. Yes, online behavior – some companies will use technology available from places like Luth Research to track the online behavior of customers to aid their market research.
Messenger bots are also very popular today, especially on platforms like Facebook. Many leading brands are using them for processing orders and for delivering stock quotes.
Interactive content marketing is also a very useful method that brings many benefits to marketers. Through this method, brands can gain bigger attention and can easily communicate their message to the audience. Many companies have recognized the useful aspects of interactive content marketing and started to build numerous interactive tools for online users. Interactive infographics, personalized approaches, live charts and data visualizations are often used by businesses and serve a great purpose in their marketing campaigns.
Native content is very important in the marketing campaigns in 2017. Today, different marketing channels require different methods. Some are used for expressing in written words, while others are for showing short and long videos and digital images. No matter the channel, all of them have specific content that can do well on that channel, but poorly on another one. Although it can be often hard to make optimized content for every platform depending on how many platforms you are using, we can still expect to see a much-improved performance by the digital marketers in regards with the native content.
When thinking about processes to approach a lead, the first thing that should be made clear is what exactly a ‘lead’ is. A lead is the person that is interested in buying your product or using your services. They are very important for any business, so converting leads to customers is what every business seeks to do. If you are approaching your leads in a structured, strategic and systematic way, you can increase the number of leads and their conversion rate into customers.
The following are some steps and processes which you should follow in order to approach a lead. Focus on the leads you think are right for your business and determine what will work best for your business.
Modern customers are more educated, demanding and knowledgeable than ever before. On top of that, they simply ignore casual visits, small chats, and suggestions that appear to be random. The majority of people today are using the Internet and other sources to perform research before buying a service or product. So, we can freely say that it is not difficult to find out where you can locate prospects, but capturing their attention can be quite a challenge. We should not forget that the competition today is fierce and you have to keep on fighting for prospect’s attention even if you are running a successful business. The good news is that there is more than one way to capture their attention.
First and foremost, you should try to answer all their questions. Even if you have used the Internet, especially online forums, to find a solution for some of your problems (for instance, problems with your facial skin), you have probably seen that many people had the same issue like you but didn’t get accurate answers. Now, think about your reputation among them in case you were able to provide a straightforward answer. In addition, imagine a situation in which you could answer all the questions on these online forums. You could establish yourself as an authority and have an impact on these people. The same goes for people running traditional businesses. The learning process related to your industry should never stop and no matter where your focus is placed, you should always be upgrading your knowledge.
Next, it is a good idea to over-deliver by letting them learn more about some crucial concept. This means that you should not only provide an answer to their question (problem) but also help them stay safe in the future. This added value will grab their attention and provide you an opportunity for free marketing. People will start referring your business to their friends and family.
Another great advice is to put yourself in the shoes of your prospects. In other words, highlight only the things that are important in the eyes of your prospect. What will make them show interest in your offer is to hear what makes you different than the others and what they can expect from your services or products. That’s everything they want to know, there is no need for chit chats and presentation of unnecessary information.
It is also very important not to give up after one attempt. Ever experienced business person and marketer will tell you that it usually takes more than one email or call to get your prospect’s attention. In some case, you will need more than five contacts to trigger some action on their side. Don’t forget that you can use some other methods of communication like direct mail for example. The same goes for phone calls which may sound a little bit outdated, but the fact is that this gives a human touch to the communication.
Follow these tips, be patient and hopefully, you will be able to get your prospect’s attention.
John says, “If you are a small business owner, a key employee or a manager this session will be one you really enjoy.”
The holiday season is usually the busiest time of the year for many retailers. This is quite natural because the season is making many people buy gifts and things for themselves too, however, there are some businesses that are dead during the holidays and it seems that they are partially guilty for this situation. The good news is that there are certain things business owners and managers can do to avoid the problem and make these holidays profitable like never before.
First of all, business owners should be aware of the fact that the holiday season is making many employees happy, but this happiness makes them less focused on their work. In addition, many employees take sick leave because it’s easy to get cold in the winter. In case you want to protect your business operations and make sure that everything is running smoothly you need to have a backup plan. So, in order to prevent a total collapse, you must find a way to reassign employees to different positions in case someone is missing. You can also look for possible substitutes before you need them.
Next, there is no doubt that the holidays make many of your employees think about the past year and what they have done in their lives. According to some sources, this is the time of the year when many people are looking for a new job too. So, it would be perfect to find a way to boost your employees’ morale. Reduce their working hours during this period of the year, throw parties and give them gifts. This should boost their morale and make them more productive which will eventually make your business more successful.
Many businesses are dead during the holidays because they have to be closed for some time. However, thanks to modern technology this is no longer a problem. Namely, you can keep running your business online. If you have an adequate online presentation (usually in the form of a website) you can keep your business open for customers 24/7, 365 days of the year. In addition to your website, you can also use social media platforms. The only thing business owners should take into account is shipping.
As previously mentioned, the holidays sometimes bring bad winter weather and many businesses are suffering because of the weather. Since we cannot change the weather, we can only prepare ourselves to lower the effects. Cleaning the premises, using a power generator, making sure that the HVAC system is working – these are some of the activities that you can practice in order to keep your business running. You could always contact the likes of the local business Castle Home Comfort Heating & Cooling to come and perform maintenance on your HVAC system to ensure it remains in working order throughout the season. Not being able to heat or cool your business could be a disaster for both your employees and your customers; nobody likes to feel uncomfortably hot or cold, so a working HVAC is imperative to a desirable commercial environment.
Finally, if you didn’t organize any seasonal contests for your business, the holiday season is the best time of the year for an activity like this. Instead of counting the days for when the holiday season will be over, you can activate potential and existing clients to keep buying products and services from you. Just make sure that your contest is shared as much as possible.
As you can see, businesses that are dead during the holidays can take some measures to boost their sales this year.
Carl Gould is a business strategist, and growth expert. He has written 5 books in the area of creating business success, and is the co-host of the weekly radio program, ‘Quit and Get Rich’ (www.gteamradio.com). Carl and his team of experts advise companies and organizations to grow to the next level. What is the next level for you?
When are they going to realized that you cannot manipulate the market forever? The Middle East dominance of the oil Market has come to an end… they are (understandably) desperately trying to hold on to their market share. Manufacturers all around the world have found more efficient ways to consume oil, and other alternatives fuel sources to the point that oil reserves are not nearly as important as they once were. Every business faces this dilemma (if it’s lucky!) when a brand or a product moves beyond the peak of its life cycle, or the patent expires, or its significant competitive advantage is removed. If you are a business that is in anyway related to the oil and gas industry, there is a new paradigm. You no longer have a license to print money… you’ll now have to go out and fight for your customers, and, like the rest of us!
Corporate investment in your own stocks is a sign that the company has high confidence in its own ability to grow, and they think their own companies worth investing in. However, it is an admission that the stock is doing poorly and it is around the lowest that it expects to be. If you are a Buy and Hold investor, and you like to find a low point… This is probably it! No 20 year period in the stock market history has shown and overall loss… So if you are thinking long-term and are looking for a Buy Signal so you can hold onto stocks for an extended period of time, then this might be your opportunity. You should expect uncertainty in the market and some vulnerability that typically coincides in presidential election years beware, and be in for the Long Haul!
In many ways, the mandate to use biofuels is a gift to President Elect Trump. He can make two groups of supporters happy with him at the same time… Farmers and refiners. When you think about it, the amount of energy that is needed on a daily basis in the United States is staggering, and there is plenty of room for both types of fuel to exist and thrive. It is estimated that our global population will go from 7 billion currently to 10 billion within my lifetime. We need all types of fuel, and for the United States to become totally self-sufficient and minimize the need for outside suppliers of fuel comma we will need to embrace virtually all types of energy sources. As long as the technology to burning, renewing and recycling the energy is clean… Then they should all be on the list.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-biofuels-idUSKBN13N0CR